About Lola loves the Yankees

<![CDATA[I am 25 yrs young, and i am a New Yorker who now lives in central Jersey.

About me and baseball.

Unlike everyone who seems to have been born into a baseball loving home, i do not actually think my parents understand the basic concepts of the game (they are more into soccer, which i played through high school).

I became a baseball and Yankees fan by accident about 10 yrs ago. It started in gym class when we had to play softball and i couldn’t hit the ball to save my life. I was very athletic and tomboyish back then. Naturally, it stung to s.u.c.k so bad in a sport, and being the perfectionist i was, i dedicated my life at the time to watching video and learning to play this sport.

Incidentally, that year, my church arranged a youth group field trip to Yankees stadium. It was the most exhilarating time ever, watching how much everyone was into it and how the stadium erupted when i witnessed my very first homerun in person, courtesy of Tino Martinez. (till this day, Tino will always be super-human to me).

Since then, i knew i’d never let go. Which brings me to the obsessive state that i am in now. =)

I’d say baseball has changed my life, at the risk of sounding cliche, but if you knew me in person, you’d understand what i meant by this.

I call the Yankees my bodyguards and Yankee stadium is my 3rd home. Watching baseball is the highlight of my day on most days. I am one of the biggest fans i personally know. I try to make it to at least 10 games a year. There’s no feeling like being in the house that Ruth built…the energy on any given day is amazing! I come alive under those lights! I love every minute of the stadium experience, especially when we are winning ;-).

Baseball has become the only steady constant in life as i know it. Through the good times and bad times, i know they’ll always be a baseball game that i could watch to lift my spirits. (except in the off season, which when i am not nursing my BWS – baseball withdrawal syndrome, i catch up on back episodes of Yankeeography, cause i am determined to know everything and anything there is to know about all the Yankee greats. Right now, i’d get an B in Yankeeography, if it were a real course. I am a lifelong student, and soon i will get that A!).

Other stuff.

I earned a BS in Material/Polymer Science Engineering with minors in Mathematics, Economics and Comp Sci from Rutgers University in May 2005. (Gooooo Scarlet Knights!! 😀 How bout our football team, eh 😉

I then went on to NYU and Polytechnic University for my graduate studies, and i am proud to have recently wrapped my Masters of Science in Financial Engineering/Statistical Analysis and Financial Risk Management in June 2007 (Now u have to call me Lola Belle, MS :-D).

I plan to in the future get more education in tune of some professional accreditations (FRM, CFA) and my MBA.

For now, i’m just relaxing and enjoying my first time off school in like a million years!!! (ok, maybe not technically a million years, but i’ve really been in school all my life!!)

When i was younger, i dreamed of being an astronaut and the President of China. LOL. Now that it’s officially dawned on me that none of those are happening (at least not the President of China part! lol), i had to start a career in the real world workforce. My first job was as a Development Engineer in a Consumer Goods company, then Management and Strategy Consulting Firm as an Analyst, and now i work in Financial Controlling for a top global brand.

Aside from baseball, my other hobbies include cars and everything that has to do with them (i.e design, engineering, going to car shows etc) – i love cars almost as much as i love baseball (almost). I am also a post amateur, almost professional photographer. I go everywhere with my Canon 40D and my really heavy lenses, lol. I am also a graphic designer, and i am very into digital imaging and animation. Uhmmm…what else? Oh, i do a lot of travelling. Seriously, i get around. Ha ha.

I’m very into non-profit work and volunteering as well. I am especially passionate about women empowerment (you’d have to forgive the obvious bias, lol). I am currently working on starting up a Scholarship and Mentorship Foundation that will cater to girls and women of all ages, but with a particular focus on 10 -18 yr old girls (i.e. pre-college). I’ll have more details soon.

I am always busy…but yet i find time to make it to 161st and River St and watch almost every game on YES like my life depends on it. Come to think of it…it kind of does. :-p]]>

Interests

Of course, baseball and the Yankees. But i
am also into other things, like gadgets and technology. Cars
and fighter jets. Cops and Robbers. Ha ha,
j/k.